Ricky's Pride
by 4luv4evr428
Summary: A look at the most important moment in the couple's love story. Please leave your reviews!


Prologue

Lucy was contemplative on the taxi ride to her doctor's office. She had been emphatic in her dismissal of Ethel's suspicion that she may be pregnant, but that was only to hide the fact that she'd thought of it herself already. She'd been feeling ill and exhausted for several days, but not wanting to get her hopes too high, she ignored the symptoms for as long as she could in the belief that they would go away.

She hadn't said anything to Ricky about not feeling well. She knew he'd worry. But depending on the results of this visit, she would have to tell him SOMETHING.

Lucy fought the happy feelings that started to rise in her as she thought about the possibility. In the first few years of her marriage, she had been pregnant twice and miscarried both babies. It left them with great sadness, but they had kept trying for the successful pregnancy that the doctor had said they could have. Too many times since then, she'd fled to her doctor at the first sign of anything that could'v hinted at pregnancy. And too many times, she'd left the doctor's office with a heaviness on her heart that the testing had all been negative.

After leaving the taxi, she walked up to the doctor's office in a daze. When the nurse called her into the examining room, she sat on the table and waited, looking at medical diagrams on the wall. She always looked at the same one, in particular, of a baby in as it looked in the womb.

She smiled sheepishly when the doctor entered the room and greeted Lucy pleasantly. "Well, Mrs. Ricardo, I hear you aren't feeling well today."

Lucy nodded and fiddled her fingers nervously. "Yes, Dr. Harris, that's right."

"Well, what seems to be the problem."

"I've been feeling very nauseated lately and I have no energy. And I'm putting on weight, I think..."

Dr. Harris nodded slowly. Finding her vital signs to be normal and not having any indication of fever, he stood before her with his hands folded and smiled. "Would you like me to do a pregnancy test?"

Lucy sighed. "I feel so foolish, having you do that test again. After all this time trying, I think it's hopeless."

"I certainly wouldn't call it hopeless, Mrs. Ricardo. You have classic symptoms, and it doesn't matter how long it's been." He put a hand on her arm. "And you have no reason to feel foolish. We keep hoping for a positive result, right?"

Lucy smiled, but she still doubted. "Well, I guess if there's no other reason for me to feel this way. Why not?"

Dr. Harris chuckled and turned her arm to find a vein. He pulled out a needle with a vial attached to it. He swabbed her skin with alcohol. "Are you ready?"

Lucy looked away and nodded. She flinched slightly at the prick she felt from the needle. She looked over to see him filling the vial with her blood before withdrawing the needle and bandaging her skin.

He smiled at her as he picked up his file. "Go ahead and get dressed and comfortable, have a seat in my office. I'll be in as soon as these results are visible."

Lucy was familiar with the process. She pulled herself together and walked through the quiet hallway to Dr. Harris' office. She sat in one of the large leather chairs on one side of his desk. She looked around at the calm paintings of boats on water. Her fingers glided over pamphlets and small booklets about pregnancy and maternal health. She picked one up and flipped through it briefly. As she looked at pictures of happy pregnant women, she smiled hopefully. She suppressed her hopeful happiness and put the booklet aside as she heard the doctor open the door behind her.

She watched Dr. Harris walk around to his desk chair and sit down, placing the file on the desk. She searched his face for a hint of good news, but she saw none. As he opened the file, still with no smile, she prepared herself for the latest in 10 years worth of "no's".

"Mrs. Ricardo, I have here the result of your test." He lifted a sheet of paper out of the file and glanced at Lucy.

She sat back in her chair. "Yes?"

He turned it around and placed it down in front of her. "Here, I'd like you to read it."

Lucy's mouth opened slightly. This was new. She leaned forward and peered at the writing on the paper. It listed all sorts of hormones and scientific words that she didn't recognize. But without exception, they all had "yes" written next to them. She shook her head, not comprehending. "Doctor, what does this mean?"

Dr. Harris chuckled. "This report was made out by my lab. All of these things listed here, those are all the things that would need to be present in your blood if you're pregnant. I want you to notice that they all say 'yes'." He pointed with his pen to the very last line on the page. "Read there."

Lucy read the words over to herself twice, maybe three times:

_All testing on this blood sample indicates conclusively that the patient is positive for pregnancy._

She looked at the doctor. "It's positive?" Dr. Harris smiled warmly and placed the paper into her file. "Yes, it's positive. You are pregnant. If you wouldn't mind terribly, I'd actually like for you to come back into the examining room so I can be more thorough and tell you how long you've been pregnant and when you might be due to have this baby..."

Lucy's head was spinning. She still couldn't believe it. "Dr. Harris...are you sure?" He laughed. "Yes, Mrs. Ricardo, I'm very sure. I was very sure before, but...we needed a test."

Lucy nodded and started to smile. "Well...yes, sure, yes..."

Dr. Harris stood up and led her back to his exam room. His voice was gentle as he closed the door behind them and instructed her on what he needed to look at. She lay on the table still trying to process the fact that she was going to have the baby that she and Ricky had always wanted. She gripped the table gently as he examined her, then moved to her abdomen and felt for the baby.

"You can sit up and get dressed again, Mrs. Ricardo, I'm sorry to have made you come back."

Lucy sat up and shook her head. "It's alright. So...is the test right?"

Dr. Harris was writing many things in her file. "It is definitely correct. You're about two months along and based on your last cycle that you noted here to my nurse, I'd say your baby's going to be due right around the second week of February."

Lucy fidgeted with her hands. "Doctor...I...I lost two babies before..."

Dr. Harris closed the file and looked at Lucy warmly. "Mrs. Ricardo, there are a few things you should know. First, your past experience doesn't affect this pregnancy. I've always told you that there's no reason you can't have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Second, your body has had more than enough time to completely recover from the last loss. I find you perfectly healthy." He smiled and pretended to scold her. "You waited a bit longer to get here this time."

"So I'm alright?"

"I think you're just perfect. And we'll have pretty frequent visits to make sure."

Lucy started to cry happily and Dr. Harris smiled. "This is the best appointment I've had all day. Congratulations." Lucy nodded and thanked him.

As Dr. Harris walked her out, he instructed his nurse to give her an appointment for the following month. "And if you have any questions, call me. But I'll see you every month now. And when we get to December, I want to see you every week." Lucy nodded again.

When she got in the taxi to go home, she was in a different daze. One of pure joy...and now she had to tell Ricky.

Chapter 1

It had been several years since Ricky and Lucy had been up to the roof of the Tropicana.

When they reached the open air of the early July evening, Ricky wasted no time drawing Lucy into his arms. He stopped short of squeezing her as tightly as he would've liked, out of fear for hurting her in some way. They looked at each other in the night aglow with city lights, through eyes that were fresh from happy tears. As she stood in her husband's arms, new tears formed in Lucy's eyes.

Ricky laughed softly, partly to keep from crying himself. "Honey, dun't cry. This is what we've always wanted!" He kissed her cheek softly.

"I know, but I can't help it." Lucy rested her head into the crook of Ricky's neck.

As Ricky held his wife and looked out across the city, he realized he probably owed her an apology. The events of the day all made sense, suddenly. She had tried repeatedly to talk to him since lunchtime, even interrupting his afternoon rehearsal. He now understood why she had been desperately seeking a quiet, private moment with him, but he was so absorbed with a particularly problematic day that he didn't give her much of an opportunity. When he saw her in the audience this night, he was surprised. But as she silently acknowledged that she was the author of the note from the Maitre'd, his heart leapt. Still, even in his happiness and excitement, he was reminded of the babies they had lost before, and of the fact that the last time, he had very nearly lost Lucy, as well. He remembered how sad he felt and how afraid he'd been, and he worried.

"I'm sorry I din't make time for you today."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Ricky."

"Are you feelin' alright?" There was a hint of fear in Ricky's voice.

Lucy looked at him knowingly. "Dr. Harris doesn't want us to worry, honey. He says everything's alright and he's going to see me often."

Ricky pulled her close again and kissed her cheek. "I dun't want anythin' to happen to you or the baby..."

"We're doing good, honey."

Ricky smiled and tilted her face toward him gently. He kissed her. When their lips met, the flashes of memory hit them both; the long days and nights in the hospital, the first baby that had been lost very early...and the second baby, lost later and much more dramatically. Their baby girl.

Ricky's hand moved to grip her arm tightly, as though he were ensuring that she would not be ripped from his embrace. "Let's go home. You need your rest."

Chapter 2

Lucy glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. Ricky would be home any moment. She knew she should be in bed or he'd lovingly scold her for not resting.

Their earlier fears about miscarrying the baby had subsided over time, as the months passed and the baby grew and strengthened inside her. With the doctor's assurances that she was healthy and all was progressing normally, the worry that had been intermingled with their joy was just a distant memory. Now, it was replaced by the normal worries about being good parents and being prepared for their child's arrival.

But with only two months left until the baby's arrival, it was getting increasingly difficult to get comfortable. She tied her hair up and stood from the vanity, catching herself in the mirror as she rose. She had a brief moment of insecurity at her growing abdomen. Her figure had so changed in the last few months that she sometimes worried that Ricky felt her unattractive.

But each time Ricky looked at her and smiled, she was able to let those thoughts leave her mind. He had been so loving and attentive. And the excitement he felt for his unborn child was palpable.

Lucy smiled as she felt the baby stir inside her, and she could hear the door in the front room open. Ricky's steps were light, and she could tell he was trying to be quiet in the assumption that she was asleep.

She wasn't surprised when the bedroom door opened and Ricky looked at her with wide, round eyes. "Lucy, it's two thirty!" He approached her, tugging at the bow tie around his neck and unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket. "Why are you awake?" Ricky kissed her softly on the lips before allowing her to answer.

"Oh, never mind that!" Lucy took Ricky's hand, placing it gently on her swollen belly.

Ricky had felt his baby moving before, but he (or she, as Lucy often reminded him) was getting stronger as time wore on. Lucy rested her hand on top of Ricky's, but she hadn't distracted him completely from his mission of getting her to bed.

"That's wonderful, sweetheart. But you still hafta go to bed." He hated to be stern with her, but he had spent this pregnancy being fiercely protective, trying to ensure than anything and everything that posed the slightest risk to Lucy or his baby was removed from their path. Still, each time the phone rang at the club, his heart ceased to beat until he was sure all was well.

Lucy silently obliged, climbing into bed, supporting the weight of her belly with one hand. She waited for Ricky to return from the bathroom before turning off the light. He hadn't kissed her goodnight yet.

When Ricky emerged, he laughed and shrugged in exasperation. "You're not asleep yet?!"

"No, I'm not! You haven't kissed me yet…"

Ricky softened and sat on the edge of the bed. "You're right, honey, I'm sorry." Placing a hand on her belly, silently thanking God that he felt the fluttering motion of a healthy baby, he leaned forward and kissed Lucy deeply. Yes, he still thought her beautiful.

III.

When Dr. Harris arrived at the hospital, he immediately went to the room where Lucy lay laboring. As his experienced eyes looked over her quickly, he smiled, knowing that although she was in pain, there was no danger. "How are you, Mrs. Ricardo? Are we ready to have a baby?"

Lucy managed a smile as her hands glided over her belly. "Well, now that it's going to be here, I don't know! But I'm ready for it to be out of me, if that's what you mean!"

The doctor laughed. "I hear that from every woman who comes through these doors." He looked at her seriously for a moment. "Now...we talked about this. Because of your history, we're going to err on the side of complete caution. You're going to go to sleep for a very short while, I'm going to make an incision, deliver the baby, and then wake you up. Everything is going to be fine." Nurses started gathering around them, preparing. "Do you have any questions for me?"

Lucy struggled to push the memories of her last surgical experience out of her mind. "When will Ricky and I see the baby?"

Dr. Harris put a hand on her hers warmly. "As soon as the baby is born, we'll get word outside that it's here and we'll tell him what it is. As soon as the baby is cleaned up and we hear its heart and assess it, one of our nurses will bring it to the window and let him look at it. By that time, you'll be waking up and I promise we'll bring it right to you." He saw the emotional scars of her lost babies in her eyes. "This one will be in your arms."

IV.

Ricky leaned over the basin in the hospital's washroom, clearing the stage makeup from his face. He was only now starting to relax. He had been on an emotional roller coaster for hours, from the moment Lucy had told him she wasn't feeling well. Still, she made him promise he would go to the Tropicana for his show, as planned. He had stayed at the hospital for as long as he could before leaving Ethel's husband, Fred, to wait and keep him updated. He smiled as he recalled the sight of his newborn son, with his dark eyes and flash of dark hair. He was a father. It was still so surreal and yet, here was this little bundle who he'd only seen through glass so far. So intense were his emotions and flood of joy, together with the release of relief that the baby was here and Lucy was fine, that he passed out cold right in the waiting room.

When he came around a few minutes later, he had been lifted into a chair, surrounded by a few nurses, Fred and Ethel, and Dr. Harris. When he opened his eyes, he could see them suppressing their laughter. Dr. Harris helped him to his feet. "I came out here to congratulate you and I find a wild Indian passed out on the floor...are you alright?"

Ricky pulled the wig of freakish black hair off his head, knowing how completely ridiculous he looked. "Yes, doctor, I'm sorry for the trouble."

Dr. Harris chuckled. "It's no trouble at all, you're not the first man to faint in here and you won't be the last." He began to shake his hand. "So congratulations!"

Ricky's embarrassment faded quickly into a proud smile. "Thank you!" He turned serious for a moment. "Doctor, is Lucy really alright? When can I see her and the baby?"

Dr. Harris had delivered so many babies and so many couples crossed his path, but he'd never seen a man as devoted as this. He smiled warmly. "I promise you she is fine and she's going to recover quickly. She's already looking well. She's held the baby and you can see her in a little while."

Ricky nodded, another wave of relief descending upon him. "Thank you, doctor. Uh...look, I...you know, the last time we were here like this, it wasn't so happy...and I guess I wasn't so nice to you." Ricky looked Dr. Harris in the eye. "I'm sorry about that. You saved Lucy's life and we wouldn't have this day without that."

Doctor Harris put a hand on Ricky's shoulder. "There's no need to be sorry, Mr. Ricardo. There's nothing more emotional that having a baby, I know that. Enjoy your son, it's a great pleasure to see him healthy."

The men shook hands again and Ricky watched him go back to his patients.

With the doctor gone, Ricky now waited for the nurse to come back and allow him to see his wife and hold his son for the first time. Ricky had sent Fred and Ethel home already; they were exhausted, and not allowed to see Lucy, anyway.

Ricky wiped his face on a towel as a knock came upon the door, and he was shaken from his recollection of what had happened earlier. He ran a hand through his hair and opened the door. "Yes?"

"Mr. Ricardo, if you'll come with me, I'll take you to your wife's room." The nurse motioned back toward another doorway.

Ricky nodded and followed her happily.

"Right through here. I'll bring the baby in a few minutes, he's being examined by the pediatrician."

Ricky felt sudden alarm. "Is he alright?"

The nurse put a hand on his arm. "Yes, of course! It's just a routine exam." He exhaled and started toward Lucy's room.

Ricky pushed the door open slowly and quietly. He didn't know what to expect of Lucy. Would she be in pain? Tired? Would she be aware of him at all? He poked his head in the room, and his last question, at least, was answered.

Lucy was sitting up, her hair down around her shoulders. Her eyes revealed the strains of a long ordeal, but they sparkled with joy at the same time. He walk to her and sat on her bed.

"Are you alright?" Ricky took her hands.

Lucy smiled. "Are YOU alright?" Ricky laughed softly and kissed his wife sweetly. "Yes, I'm fine. Do you feel ok, do you need anythin'?"

"Honey, I'm alright….have you seen him?"

Ricky's heart warmed and he felt as though he could cry. "Yes, Lucy, darlin', he's wonderful. He's strong and handsome…I love you."

Lucy took Ricky's face in her hands. "I love you, too."

The nurse knocked at the door and pushed the it open. Ricky and Lucy turned to watch her enter. A second nurse entered behind her, pushing a bassinet. Ricky peered inside to see his dark-haired bundle, wrapped in a blue blanket. The baby wiggled and opened his dark eyes, but the light caused him to close them again. The second nurse lifted him and rested him in Lucy's arms, and Ricky smiled with pride. The first nurse turned to Ricky. "The exam went fine, he's in perfect health."

The parents looked at each other with relief.

"Mr. Ricardo, if you'll come with me for a moment, I have the birth certificate for you to sign." The second nurse pointed to a desk in the hallway.

Ricky looked at Lucy, puzzled. "Lucy, how can I sign it if we haven't named him yet?" Lucy looked back at him warmly, placing her hand gently on her baby's dark head. "I gave them his name, honey."

Still inquisitive, Ricky followed the nurse out of the room. She placed the document in front of him and rested a pen beside it. "You can review the information, make sure it's correct. Then sign the last line, where it asks for the father's signature."

Ricky read through the certificate. He noted his and Lucy's full names and places of birth, their current address, the baby's date of birth…and the baby's name. He suddenly felt tears in his eyes, having fought them all day.

"Enrique Alberto Ricardo, Jr." Ricky read aloud. "She went through hundreds of names, for months. And she decided on mine."

Ricky signed the certificate and returned to his wife, wiping his eyes clear of the tears that had started to form when he learned his son's name. He walked back into the room and paused at the end of the bed, looking at Lucy, who was looking down at the baby and talking to him softly as he wiggled gently in her arms.

She looked up at Ricky and smiled. "You don't have to stand there like that, come and sit!"

Ricky smiled broadly and sat on the bed facing her. They looked at each other silently for a few moments before Ricky reached up and stroked her cheek gently with the backs of his fingers. Lucy looked back down at the baby warmly and Ricky touched his little hand. The baby reflexively grabbed his finger and Ricky felt a catch in his throat. "He has my name," he whispered.

Lucy smiled. "Mhmm..." Ricky moved closer to them. "When did you decide that? You din't tell me." Lucy giggled. "I thought of it a few weeks ago and I decided that if we had a boy, I wanted to surprise you with it." She looked down at the baby again, looking at every detail of his small face. "And then I saw him, and I saw you all over his face, and I knew he had to have your name." She touched her husband's hand gently. "Do you want to hold him?"

"Yes!" Lucy starting to hold him the baby, guiding his arms under the little head. Ricky seemed nervous, his arms tensing. Lucy smiled and ran her fingers along his arms to relax him. "I'm afraid of hurtin' him somehow..." Ricky's voice seemed to be shaking.

Lucy touched Ricky's face, her other hand touching his elbow. "Sweetheart, relax...you won't hurt him...see he's looking at you."

Ricky started to relax and he felt his arms naturally cradle the baby. His dark little eyes squinted up at him, and every fiber of Ricky's body responded to the warm little bundle that was also of his body. Ricky's hand moved to the side of the baby's face as Lucy sat back and folded her hands in front of her, confident in his instincts as a father. She began to softly cry happy tears when Ricky began to speak to his baby. "Y sabes lo que eres? Tu es la joya de mi vida. Tu eres mi hijo, mi heredero. Mi esposa me ha dado un regalo invaluable."

Lucy reached out to run her fingers over the soft black hair on the baby's head, noticing how it was already starting to wave in the same places that it did on her husband's head. "Ricky, darling, he doesn't speak Spanish," Lucy laughed softly.

Ricky looked over at his wife. He smiled and sat straight up proudly. "He will speak Spanish, I tol' you!"

She giggled as he inched closer to her, the baby beginning to fall asleep in his protective arms. "You dun't speak Spanish, either, but it doesn't stop me..."

He leaned over and kissed her deeply; it was the kiss of a man who loved a woman who was not only his wife, but the mother of his child, as little baby Ricky rested peacefully between them.


End file.
